Sugar and Snow
by Anonynomenon
Summary: He saved her, and she was indebted to him. She swore her loyalty to him. However, being overpowered by debt is never a good thing, especially when it conflicts with family. When she betrays him, she doesn't know how she'll ever face him. All she wants is to see her beloved sister again. (In which Monet survives the events during the Punk Hazard arc.)
1. Treachery

**This will be an alternative to what really happened on Punk Hazard regarding Monet, Caesar stabbing her heart, and the Straw Hat Pirates. Trying to take another stab at story writing. Hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did, Ace would still be alive, and Luffy would have probably already became Pirate King :D**

* * *

Pain. Numbness. Defeat. That was all she could feel as she slowly made her way though the collapsing corridor. Breathing heavily, the artificial harpy pressed a button on the wall to close the automatic security shutters, sealing herself away from all of the agonized screams and poisonous gas. Those same screams, ironically, are what saved her life momentarily, short as it will come to be.

About an hour before, she had awoken from unconsciousness due to the screams of the G-5 Marines, telling others that the gas had spread into the Biscuits Room—the same room the harpy had then laid defeated. She quickly reacted despite her wounds, and managed to take flight and somehow reach Room C, most likely being the only location that the gas could not enter, unless it crumbled down.

Unfortunately for the harpy-lady, the research institute was already crumbling down, and the lethal "Land of Death" gas was going to pour into the building at any moment. There was not much time left. Clutching the sword-inflicted wound on her stomach, she slowly made her way to the center of the room, panting heavily between steps. When she finally reached the large machine in the middle of the laboratory, her body gave in and fell to the floor, her back against the mechanism that did whatever it was built to do.

Time was quickly running out. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker by the second. She had to report the situation to the captain. She had to tell him that everyone was beaten by the Straw Hat Pirates. That they failed to protect the SAD laboratory and was doomed to be destroyed. That the plan failed. That she had failed.

She struggled to take her Transponder Snail from her belt, and then placed the call.

 _purupurupurupurupuru...purupurupurupurupuru...purupurupurupurupuru...gacha!_

"Joker, can you hear me?" she asked on the phone quietly, due to her difficulty to breath properly. "This is Monet..."

Monet noticed that the expression on her Transponder Snail was not pleased, reflecting how her captain must feel as the man called Joker spoke.

"Monet, I'm glad you're alive," Joker honestly replied. "Vergo was defeated. As was Caesar. But Baby 5 and Buffalo should be able to recover Caesar."

"I see," she confirmed. "That's good..."

 _Now that's our Joker,_ Monet thought. He knew that everyone here in Punk Hazard had already lost to the Straw Hats, so he sent Baby 5 and Buffalo—two members of the Family—as backup to help protect Caesar, who is the one person that absolutely must survive, incompetent in strength as he may be. Joker always seemed to think so far ahead.

Or so she made herself to believe.

"This is all a mistake on my part," Joker confessed. "I apologize for putting you in this position."

Monet simply chuckled and shook her head. She didn't feel like she could blame Joker for anything. She was only fulfilling her duties as a member of the Family. What more could she ask for?

"But I'd like to make the most of this situation," he continued. "I want you to kill all those youngsters now."

The green-haired harpy understood who Joker was talking about. The Straw Hats, the G-5 Marines, and Trafalgar Law have all caused enough trouble with ruining her captain's plans.

"Laboratory Three holds a weapon that's identical to the one that destroyed the island four years ago. If you just press the self-destruct button...then only one person will be left alive. The only person who can survive the lethal gas...will be Caesar."

Monet felt a tiny sensation of hope that Joker would come rescue her or something of that nature, but dismissed the idea after hearing that only Caesar would be left alive. Joker's orders were absolute, regardless of how she felt or what she wanted. Monet already knew where this was going, but she was prepared.

"The button is located—"

"Say no more, Joker," Monet cut him off. "That was my plan all along."

Joker sounded a little surprised on the other end of the phone.

"I'm right in front of the self-destruct button," she said, gasping for air even harder now. "The explosion will even reach the tanker they're planning to escape in. One of our ships will go to waste. Is that alright?"

Joker ignored the question, more concerned for the life of his comrade. "Forgive me. Please, die for me, and take them all with you."

Monet smiled widely with satisfaction. "Understood, Young Master."

After accepting her orders, Monet gently placed her Transponder Snail next to the glass-enclosed self-destruct button. She lifted her large, white wings into the air and pointed her furthest feathers to the ceiling. Her smile was even wider now, and her eyes were closed.

Monet pondered on all of the things that had happened to her ever since her fateful encounter with Joker. It was he who saved her from the harsh environment she used to endure. He was the one who took her in as a member of his Family. Thanks to him, she was given the wonderful opportunity of meeting those whom she holds dear today. She was given the chance to form bonds and relationships that she never knew she could experience.

Joker had still been speaking through the Transponder Snail, but it wasn't directed at Monet, but to another member of the Family who was also defeated in the research facility, Vergo.

"I'm sorry, partner. I've known you longer than any of the others. You've done well, until today."

On the other side of Caesar's research institute, in Room D, where the SAD is manufactured, Vergo didn't say a single word. He simply smiled genuinely.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outside of the tanker that the Straw Hat Pirates were escaping in, the mad scientist that owned the research facility, Caesar Clown, had arisen from unconsciousness. Caesar looked around, his tongue hanging uncontrollably from his mouth and barely able to move.

 _Where am I?_ Caesar wondered. _I can't move...Damn, is this the end?_ His memories of what happened to him came back now, and he couldn't even contain his anger and hate.

He remembered how goofy and feeble that damned Straw Hat Luffy looked as the scientist had become the King of The Land of Death. Caesar had no idea that Straw Hat bastard could blow him away so far with such a devastating attack. It hurt like hell! And here he laid, defeated, and unable to do anything but curse the pirate who beat him.

Then there was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Trafalgar Law, who was the main culprit behind the entire rebellion. _How dare that Warlord betray me!_ Caesar thought angrily. _Damn you, Law!_ They had a deal! To gain the trust of one another, Law used his Devil Fruit ability to extract his own heart, and leave it in Caesar's hands in exchange for the heart of Caesar's assistant, Monet. Neither of the two men would ask the other any personal questions, Law would be allowed to roam freely about Punk Hazard, and his presence would remain a secret to the world.

 _But he just had to go and betray me!_ Caesar complained to himself. Trafalgar Law had even formed an alliance with his fellow pirate of the Worst Generation, Monkey D. Luffy, in order to destroy the SAD manufacturing room. Caesar could hardly imagine what else Law had in store.

 _But Joker sure as hell won't let them get away with this..._

And then there was Vice-Admiral Smoker of the G-5 Marines. For whatever reason, he teamed up with Luffy and Law and aided them in destroying the SAD factory. His main goal was probably to defeat Vergo, who faked his leadership as a Vice-Admiral of the G-5 Marines and was actually working undercover for Joker. _To hell with him, too!_ Caesar cursed. Smoker's subordinates also ended up freeing the experiment children from the scientists grasp.

Well, they already outlived their usefulness. He could just find new ones.

 _Still, this is all their fault!_

But just then, Caesar felt a steady and constant beat against his chest. Thinking of Smoker had reminded him of the gift that Law had brought him. He removed the object from his gaseous lab coat, and there was the heart of Vice-Admiral Smoker. Caesar lifted the heart in front of his face and smiled devilishly.

"Shurororo," he laughed manically. "Smoker! If nothing else, I'll at least...take you down with me!" He found a sharp piece of broken metal and examined it. "Shurororo! It's a shame that I won't get to see him die, but still...! Smoker's eyes will turn white, he'll cough up blood, and his breathing will stop in an instant! And everyone around him will be struck by fear and helplessness! Just the thought of it...Shurororororo!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the Straw Hat Pirates, G-5 Marines, and Trafalgar Law were escaping via tanker, where the corridor in this area was already crumbling down.

The Straw Hat Pirates were minding their business, doing what they usually do as they waited for the tanker to reach the end of the corridor, away from the poisonous gas creeping behind them. Luffy kept going on about how fast the tanker was going, Law kept to quietly to himself, thinking about the group's next plan after their escape. However, Smoker stared at Law for a long while until he raised his voice.

"Hey, Law," Smoker called.

Law turned around to face his temporary ally, who was bleeding slightly and had not only one, but two cigars in his mouth. It was probably due to his Logia-class Devil Fruit, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, that gave Smoker such a habit.

"Once we get out of here, we'll be going our separate ways," the smoke man continued. "Before that, there's something I want to ask you."

Law looked at Smoker suspiciously, unsure of what he had in mind. "What is it?"

Smoker looked down at the left side of his chest, specifically where his heart was. He remembered when he and Law had fought earlier, and the Surgeon of Death had managed to use his power to steal Smoker's heart. He had assumed that Law would give his heart to Caesar as some sort of gift, since they apparently had allied with one another. But then, not even twenty minutes ago, Law somehow had the stolen heart in his possession and decided to return it to its owner.

"My heart was supposed to be in Caesar's hands. Why did you have it?"

Law sighed, relieved that it was, what he thought, only a trivial question. "He'd gotten the wrong idea, that's all." He thought of all of the events that revolved around the hearts that he had removed the whole day. "In order to obtain Caesar's trust, I gave him my heart. In exchange, he gave me his attendant, Monet's heart. After that, I took your heart when you came to the laboratory. In my hands, I held two hearts. I just kindly returned the heart of his attendant Monet to him."

Law smiled, thinking of all the trouble his actions so far will cause to Caesar, and his accomplice, Joker.

"As they all say, when you do something good, something good will happen to you."

* * *

Monet inhaled and exhaled slowly, taking her time, as if they were her last breaths. Her wings were still pointing to the ceiling, her eyes still closed, a large smile on her face.

Buffalo. He was always so loud, but Monet didn't really mind. The times when she would fly on his back for a mission from Joker was always fun. Plus, the way he ended his sentences sometimes with "dasuyan!" amused her. Flying a lot in the past is one of the reasons why she wanted her wings.

Baby 5. Monet never really learned what her real name was, but that didn't matter. She always thought of her as another little sister. Baby 5 would sometimes tag along with her and Buffalo when they flew, granting the ability to destroy villages from the sky with her Devil Fruit powers. _She and Buffalo are such good friends,_ she thought.

Jora. The artificial harpy always thought that Jora was a little strange. Jora did have her own artistic values, which Monet respected, but Jora was a bit full of herself. Nevertheless, she did genuinely care about the other members of the Family, and that was enough.

Lao G. Monet held great respect for the old man. He seemed so funny to her, as he always emphasized the letter "G" whenever that letter was used in his sentences. Lao G was also a very skilled fighter, being the one who taught her martial arts when she joined the crew.

Machvise. She never had much communication with the large man, but they did have their moments during their missions. He was very strong, and respected him greatly for that strength.

Señor Pink. Monet had to admit, Señor was truly a man among men. Even though he acted indecently at times, he is definitely a chivalrous man and respects women. Out of all the crew members, he is probably the most compassionate. Everyone was worried about him when he suddenly began dressing like an infant, but Monet never lost respect for him. It amused her anyway, and he must've been going through something.

Gladius. Monet finds him to be funny because he seems to be constantly angry all the time, especially when the younger members of the crew mess with or make fun of him. His loyalty for Joker, however, is sometimes over-exaggerated, and Monet is usually the one to tell him to calm down.

Dellinger. He was so cute when she first met him, so young, and yet a strong boy. He is quite eccentric, too, which she always liked about him.

Monet looked down at the self-destruct button and stared at it. She slowly lifted the glass lid with the feathers of her wing.

Diamante, Trebol, and Pica. She couldn't really relate with Diamante, due to his extremely sadistic tendencies. Monet enjoys fighting, but not to an equal extent of Diamante. Trebol has no sense of personal space. And although she can't really blame him for it due to his Devil Fruit, the fact that he is literally a blob of mucus is disturbing. Pica, on the other hand, is quite comical. The first time Monet ever heard him speak, she laughed and told Pica that she liked his voice. She is probably the only member of the Donquixote Family, or anyone really, that can laugh at his voice without getting him angry.

Despite her feelings to Diamante and Trebol, Monet respects all of the top executives for their power and experience, especially Vergo. She was glad to have worked with Vergo for the past four years while spying on Caesar.

She was glad to have met them all.

* * *

Caesar took a moment to inspect the sharpness of the scrap metal, making sure that it was able to pierce what he believed was Smoker's heart. He seemed satisfied with the tip and laughed like the mad scientist he is.

"Shurororo! This is the end for you, Smoker!" he shouted as he brought down his makeshift weapon onto what was actually Monet's heart.

But just then, Caesar felt a sharp sting of pain throughout his entire body and he froze, dropping the scrap metal.

"Ah, dammit!" he cursed, before falling back into unconsciousness. _I was so damn close..._

* * *

Monet finally rested the tip of her wing against the self-destruct button. At that moment, all of her enemies flashed through her mind, the most prominent people being Luffy and Law.

"Straw Hat Luffy...Trafalgar Law...You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. There is absolutely no way you can defeat the Young Master..."

 _The Straw Hat Crew...Trafalgar Law...G-5...Those pitiable children...Everyone will disappear along with me._

"Farewell, Young Master." Monet bids. _You are the man...who will become the Pirate King._

What she didn't notice is that her Transponder Snail grinned villainously.

All that is heard is the explosion.

 _ **...Sugar...**_

Monet halted. The button had not been pressed. The explosion came from where the SAD manufacturing room was located, most likely where Vergo was, too.

 _ **...Sugar...**_

"Sugar," Monet whispered to herself. How could she almost forget about her? How could she almost simply throw her life away, and leave her little sister behind, where she probably wouldn't even had known that she had died?

"Monet?" she heard Joker speaking to her. "What's wrong, Monet?" It seemed as if he didn't hear her, but must have been aware that something was wrong. Monet's Transponder Snail would have disconnected due to the explosion if everything was alright.

But Monet did not answer him. She was at a stalemate between two sides of her being. One told her that she must fulfill her duty as a member of the Donquixote Family, while the other told her that she must keep living and reunite with her younger sister, Sugar.

She just didn't know which choice to decide on. She wasn't sure which one was more important. It was Joker that saved both Monet and Sugar from the harsh condition they once lived in. They owed their lives to him and therefore swore their loyalty to him. However, the two sisters have _never_ been separated since Sugar was born.

That was, until they joined the Donquixote Family.

"Answer me, Monet." She could practically feel his anger and impatience from the other end of the phone.

Monet removed her trembling wing away from the self-destruct button. Joker didn't hang up his Transponder Snail, but she heard a window open on the other end. She slowly backed away from the button and the snail, as if they were somehow banes of her existence.

She then heard a faint voice on the other end calling for Joker and her eyes widened. She knew exactly who that was.

"Young Master! Young Master! Young Maaaasteeeerrrr!"

Monet couldn't resist calling out to her desperately. "Sugar! Is that you?"

No response. She must have already left the room.

But, if Joker was nowhere to be found, then that could mean only one thing.

"The Young Master is coming to Punk Hazard..." she declared to herself.

Hearing her little sister's voice was what Monet needed to give her the willpower to not surrender. There was no longer any point in protecting Punk Hazard or Caesar—all of Joker's plans had already been foiled. Despite her wounds, the artificial harpy grabbed her Transponder Snail and managed to take flight. Since the laboratory was already collapsing, there were small holes in the ceiling that she could use to escape. She transformed her body into snow using her Snow-Snow Fruit power and slipped through the cracks in the ceiling.

After finally escaping the laboratory that was already doomed to be destroyed, she flew away to the edge of the island that was the furthest away from where the poisonous gas originally began to spread.

It took all she had to miraculously arrive above the icy coast of Punk Hazard. Monet didn't care about her injuries. She didn't know what she was going to tell Joker when they would meet again. All she wanted was to see her sister again.

Monet's body had at last given in, and she barely managed to break her fall into the snow. She could no longer move, could barely breathe, and was slowly fading into unconsciousness.

The last thing she could see was a group of people having a celebration of some sort.

"Sugar..."

* * *

Over the seas of the New World, between the island of Punk Hazard and where the country of Dressrosa resided, there was a feathery, pink figure flying over the ocean.

"It's me. What's going on over there?"

Buffalo, of the Donquixote Pirates spoke from the other end of the Transponder Snail. "The Straw Hats randomly appeared and took Baby 5 and me out! They captured Caesar, too! We're chained up with Sea Stone, Young Master!"

"And the place is still intact, right?"

"Yeah!" Buffalo replied.

"So, the island and everyone on it hasn't disappeared...?" His anger rose at this realization. Veins popped out of his forehead. _So, Monet really did fail..._ He thought to himself. "Just hold on, Buffalo..."

The Warlord, captain of the Donquixote Pirates, underworld broker under the alias Joker, and current king of Dressrosa, smirked with evil intent as he continued to fly towards Punk Hazard. He was Donquixote Doflamingo.

"I'm on my way there now."

* * *

"Hey, look! She's waking up!"

"Cutie-chan!"

"Would you shut up already?"

"How about both of you shut up?!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhh! The bird lady's awake!"

"Hopefully she won't try to freeze us to death."

Slowly regaining consciousness, Monet opened her eyes to a familiar looking reindeer.

"Are you okay?" Chopper asked.

Monet's eyes then widened, which made Chopper flinch and step back from her shyly. She tried to sit up, but stopped as soon as she felt the sharp burst of pain from her stomach wounds that seemed to have been taken care of.

"No!" the little reindeer urged while hiding behind his stool. "You should rest up..."

The green-haired harpy looked at him with a confused expression. Where was she? Why was her enemy helping her? She looked around the room—which she realized was a sick bay—and noticed other members of the Straw Hat Pirates. Roronoa Zoro, the one who defeated and humiliated her, however, wasn't among them.

Monet tensed up when she saw the deadly glare that Trafalgar Law was giving her, showing that he was not pleased with her presence. In stark contrast with Law's death stare, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy, simply grinned widely at her.

"So...what was your name again?" Luffy goofily asked.

That was when Monet finally realized that she had entered the worst possible scenario.

She had ended up on the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, her enemies.

* * *

 **And that's that. Took about a full day to write, and turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. But, it's whatever. Thanks for reading, guys. :p**


	2. From A Harpy To An Angel

**Alright, now finally, here's Chapter 2. Yeah, don't worry guys, I didn't die or anything, just tried to really take time with this chapter. I got really into it, to the point where I put stuff that shouldn't have even been in this one. So, I had to calm down and take stuff out and put other things in. But, it worked out in the end. So here's the second chapter!**

 **Also, just to be clear, Momonosuke and Kin'emon are not with this the Straw Hats in this chapter. I would hate to write Momonsuke in this story, so I ended up just taking them out entirely. For those of you who like these two characters, I apologize. I just can't stand that kid, and without him, then it wouldn't make sense to just have Kin'emon.**

 **Oh, and thanks to those of you who really liked the first chapter! It definitely helps to hear positive responses.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I wish I did.**

* * *

Due to her injuries, Chopper's insistence for resting, and the fact that she was an enemy to the Straw Hats, Monet was forced to be confined in the sick bay. Most of the Straw Hats had left the room, giving Monet enough time to grasp the current situation and regain her composure. Apparently, Caesar had also been captured, but Baby 5 and Buffalo were left defeated back on Punk Hazard.

She wasn't sure if those two saw her with the Straw Hats before they set sail, since she wasn't even conscious. Hopefully, they would think that she had died. For her own sake, she would be better off dead than having Joker, or rather, Doflamingo, catch wind of her failure and still live.

The worst part is that she betrayed him by disobeying.

But Monet didn't care about that anymore. He had already threatened her with death if she failed to protect Caesar, and his apology for the position he put her in was undoubtedly a ruse, proven by the fact that he ordered her to throw her life away right after. Didn't he know, or even care about who would be affected by her death? How Sugar would feel?

Doflamingo probably wouldn't have even told Sugar about her sister's death.

 _I don't really care what happens to me,_ Monet told herself. _But who would be there for Sugar if I died? Why can't I trust everyone else in the Family to take care of her?_

Suddenly, her train of thought was interrupted by none other than Luffy, who had been in the room the whole time and had been talking, nonstop.

"Hey, Money," Luffy pouted. Monet really hadn't been paying any attention to him the entire time, and he realized that she _just now_ noticed that he was talking to her. "Did you even hear what I said?"

Monet's eyebrow twitched at that. "My name is not Money. It's _Monet_."

"Well duh, Money," he said unmindfully. "Like I was saying, you and Nami would get along real well because of your name!" He laughed to himself.

Usually she would have been amused, but Monet somehow managed to poise and control herself to not strangle him. She knew that the Straw Hat Pirate captain wasn't the most intelligent, but she didn't know that he had an idiot-side to him. _Or is he just making fun of me?_ she wondered.

The green-haired woman looked around for someone who could possibly help her and get Luffy out of her skin. On the side of the bed, there was Chopper, the only other person in the room, who returned to hiding behind his stool (the wrong way) as soon as Monet looked at him. He noticed that she was staring at him confusedly, probably because Luffy was being stupid.

"Um, d-don't worry about him," the little reindeer stuttered. "I think he'll get your name right eventually." Chopper slightly stepped towards Monet to get a quick look at her wound before going to Luffy's side. He was clearly afraid and skeptical of her being on the ship. "How are you feeling?"

Despite her confusion and hostility towards her enemies, she couldn't bring herself to tell the little doctor to get lost after he apparently saved her. So she smiled with her fake smile.

"I'm feeling much better," she said quietly, ashamed that she couldn't help herself. "I shall thank you for helping me."

Chopper blushed at that. "T-that doesn't make me feel happy at all, you big jerk!" He danced and clapped his hands together in joy.

Monet chuckled at the reindeer's antics. "You certainly look happy to me."

"Yeah whatever," Luffy jumped back into the chat. "Hey Money, where'd you get those wings?! I've gotta find a bird and get Law to give me its wings!" The Straw Hat gasped as he realized something. "Wait, did Law give you those wings?"

"Yes he d—" she tried to speak.

But Luffy interrupted, as his eyes strangely sparkled and his mouth was wide open. "You've gotta let me borrow them, Money!"

"Luffy," Chopper interjected. "You can't just ask that!"

Monet swayed her legs under her blanket. "Well, I don't know if I can lend my wings to you, but I could let you borrow my talons, if you'd like." She spoke nonchalantly, as if this was common conversation.

"She agreed!?" Chopper face faulted.

"Really?!" Luffy asked excitedly, but his excitement quickly diminished, which made Monet cock her head to the side. "Wait a sec, how're you supposed to give me your bird feet if you don't even have them? That's not fair, Money!" He crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not understanding why Luffy would say such a thing. _What does he mean that I don't have my talons?_ she thought to herself.

"I cut them off."

They all looked at Law as he entered the room. Monet took the blanket off of her legs to confirm that it was true. She noticed that Law still looked at her with his disturbing, unpleasant glare, but she returned a gaze of her own with equal intensity. _Trafalgar Law..._

Monet and Law continued to gaze at one another for what seemed like a whole minute. Luffy and Chopper felt like they were in one of those awkward situations, and Chopper sighed in relief when Monet finally broke the silence.

"May I ask why you removed my talons?"

"You probably didn't notice," Law started bitterly. "But big-ass toe-nails like the ones you had can really mess someone up. So I kindly gave you your old legs back."

"Oh, you don't trust me?" she asked him innocently, pointing her toes at the Heart Pirate captain playfully.

"Of course I don't," he replied matter-of-factly. "I had suggested, and _still advise_..." Law paused and looked at Luffy with an annoyed look, and then back to Monet. "...that we chain you up with Sea Stone." The Straw Hat captain didn't seem to take the hint that Law was referring to him about his advice, which bugged Law even more.

 ***FLASHBACK***

* * *

 _"Hey Luffy," Chopper called. "Come here for a second!"_

 _"What is it, little buddy?" The rubber man walked away from the celebration of Caesar's defeat to check out what his friend was looking at._

 _"I think...we may have a problem," the reindeer stated, referring to the green-haired harpy laying unconscious in the snow. Chopper winced at the sword wound across her abdomen. "It's Caesar's assistant. She definitely needs medical attention."_

 _Chopper thought about all of the things that Monet had done to him, his friends, and the horrible treatment she and Caesar put the giant children under with the façade of paternal and maternal care._

 _However, he was a doctor. He knew what he had to do and had no other choice._

 _Luffy hadn't said a word. Chopper was the doctor, so the decision to help Monet or not was his call. He already knew what the little doctor was going to do anyway._

 _"Luffy," Chopper said, shifting into his Monster Point. "Can you help me carry her back to the Sunny?"_

 _The captain smiled, proud of his companion. "Sure thing, Chopper!"_

 _The two carried Monet across the party carefully, ignoring the stares and comments from Caesar's former subordinates and the G-5 Marines. When they reached the Thousand Sunny, however, and heard the grunts of disapproval, along with the "Cutie-chan," they had to explain themselves._

 _"Hey Luffy, Chopper," Nami shouted with displeasure. "What do you think you're doing with that snow woman!?"_

 _"She's hurt, Nami! Her injuries need to be treated!" Chopper claimed._

 _Zoro noticed that it was Monet that Luffy and Chopper were carrying, but he didn't bother to participate in the decision on what to do with the one he technically defeated. He simply walked back to the middle of the deck and fell asleep._

 _"Do you guys remember what she had done?" Nami reminded. "Chopper, do you remember what she did to those children along with Caesar? How could you help someone who experiments on children by drugging them?" She had to hold back her tears as memories from earlier came back._

 _"Yeah," Usopp agreed with her. "And that snow lady was also the one who scared the shit outta me when we first landed here..."_

 _"I wouldn't mind if we helped Cutie-cha—" Nami smashed Sanji onto the floor of the deck before he could finish speaking. "You kn-kn-know, on s-second thought..." The smoke from his cigarette turned into hearts._

 _Chopper cringed at what Nami had said and looked over at the children. Usopp's argument didn't really matter, but Monet really had done some terrible things. Chopper felt bad for what happened to Mocha and the other children, but was glad to see them laughing and enjoying themselves in the celebration._

 _Caesar was a monster, but for some reason, there was a different story with Monet to Chopper. He didn't know what it was at that moment, but he just had to help the harpy._

 _"But she—" the reindeer tried to defend, but was cut off by Nami._

 _"Chopper," she said, with empathy now. "I know that you're a doctor, and doctors should always want to help an injured or sick person, physically and/or mentally." She walked closer to the reindeer and her captain. "But there are people in this world that really are bad people, and—"_

 _"We're taking her with us, captain's orders!" Luffy shut everything down._

 _Chopper looked at his captain and smiled. "Luffy..."_

 _"LUFFY!" most of the Straw Hats shouted, while some chuckled, yohohoho-ed or SUPER-ed._

 _"Oh, the humanity!" Usopp complained. "We're doomed! Aaagh!"_

 _"Luffy, do you know what you're saying?!" the orange-haired navigator cried. "And I was just about to give an inspirational speech!"_

 _"Oh really?" Luffy asked, without a care in the world. He and Chopper let Brook and Franky take Monet to the sick bay. "I was just thinking about how Monkey would take me flying! Oh wait, I didn't know we had the same name!" He laughed a silly laugh as Nami slapped him hard._

 _"Her name is Monet, not Monkey, you dumbass!" Nami's rage had already hit its peak. "She'll be your and Chopper's responsibility!" She already had Sanji's lovey-dovey behind to take care of now that they were taking Monet with them..._

 _Using the opportunity to speak, Law stood up from where he was sitting next to Smoker, having heard everything. "It'd probably be best if we brought Monet with us anyway," he told the Straw Hats. "Maybe we could keep her and Caesar captive."_

 _The surgeon nodded towards Smoker, who grunted and reluctantly tossed a pair of handcuffs to Usopp. "Don't tell me what to do, pirate," the smoke man said._

 _Law ignored Smoker and continued with his new idea. "Straw Hat-ya, make sure to cuff her with that Sea Stone, just like Caesar. We don't want her getting away either."_

 _"No," Luffy refused. He took the Sea Stone cuffs from Usopp and quickly, but carelessly, tossed them behind him. "We don't need these." Luffy thought they would end up sinking into the sea, but instead they collided with Caesar's already injured face, knocking him out again._

 _Everyone looked at Luffy without saying a word, but Law was the only one who disagreed with his decision and chose to speak._

 _"Straw Hat-ya, what's the meaning of this?" Law demanded. "What if she tries to escape? Or fight back?"_

 _"Don't worry," Luffy assured his ally with a wide grin. "She won't try anything. That's why we don't need the handcuffs."_

 _The death surgeon tried to make another argument, but Zoro had finally spoken up._

 _"There's no point in trying to go against his decision," the swordsman advised, opening up one eye. "Once he's decided on something, nobody can change his mind. One of the perks of forming an alliance with Luffy..."_

 _Zoro stood up and walked over to look at Law. He smirked and said, "...is that you can't tell him what to do without him spicing things up."_

 _Law halfway-face-faulted as Luffy bursted into a fit of laughter. He rested his forehead against his hand, understanding where he stood in an argument with Luffy. "Fine, fine, no Sea Stone. But don't you regret anything."_

 _"Of course not," Luffy confirmed. "Don't worry, she's not a bad person!"_

 _"Hmm... I've a sense of deja vu..." Robin mused._

 _Law then used his Devil Fruit power to create a gigantic Room. "But first, as a precautionary measure," he persisted. " **Shambles**!"_

 _Suddenly, as Brook and Franky were carrying Monet, her talons were switched with human legs, presumably being her original legs and feet._

 _"What the..." Franky took a closer look at her new legs, wondering if they were even real._

 _"Oh my, that truly was a sight," the skeleton joked. "Although I don't have eyes! Yohohoho!"_

 _"Hey Traffy," the Straw Hat captain said suspiciously. "What'd you just do?"_

 _"Relax, Straw Hat-ya," Law calmly supplied. "I only switched her bird talons with her original legs and feet, to make sure that she doesn't try to stab us or something." And before Luffy could say anything as a retort, the surgeon said, "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind me doing it anyway. I was the one who switched her legs in the first place."_

* * *

 ***END FLASHBACK***

"Which reminds me, Monet," Law continued. "You told me that you only wanted the _wings_ in the first place, and just asked for the talons simply because 'they matched' with the wings. Is that correct?"

The former harpy nodded in response. "If it's just a trust issue, then I'm fine with it." There was something that she was more concerned about than replaced appendages.

 _Why wouldn't Straw Hat want to keep me restrained?_ He surely knew that she is their enemy. They even fought one another. _Is he toying with me?_ she wondered. To see if she would step out of line and then handcuff her later on?

What made it worse is that Luffy suddenly fell asleep.

Once again, her train of thought was broken. But this time, it was Chopper who broke it by touching her right wing. When Monet pulled away, Chopper hid behind Luffy backwards and apologized to her.

"Please, do not touch my wings," she told him, more coldly than she had intended. "It would be nice if you only tended to my wounds, thank you."

"I'm sorry," the little reindeer shyly apologized. "It's just...that the feathers were so soft, and I...never mind." His hooves tightened their grip on Luffy's cardigan.

Despite being the person who almost killed him earlier, Monet did feel a little bad for being mean to the reindeer, and he still seemed afraid of her. So she put on her fake smile again. "I mean, it's okay. Go on."

Chopper looked up at her and made a small smile. The little doctor kind of reminded her of Sugar. "Well, I was thinking, since you know, Law had switched your legs back, that you weren't a harpy anymore. I guess now you're—"

"An angel!" Luffy finished as he instantly snapped awake. "That's it! Money, the Snow Angel of the Straw Hat Pirates!"

Monet chuckled at the sound of her new title, although she still wasn't happy with the mispronunciation of her name. "Well, the 'Snow Angel' has a nice ring to it, but I never said I was joining—"

"It's perfect, Chopper!" Luffy and Chopper started celebrating by jumping around the room. They both started chanting "Snow Angel" repeatedly, before Monet had had enough and rained on their parade.

"I have no intention of joining your crew," she bluntly asserted. "I have my own obligations to my own crew and my own captain." She scowled at Luffy, who only returned a blank stare. The tension in the room only rose.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you still work for that bird man," Luffy said, referring to Doflamingo.

"Well, we thought you had left his crew or something," Chopper added. "Since you know, you looked like you were left behind..."

"So you helped me out of pity?" Monet snapped at them. "And besides, I would _never_ betray the Young Master, for anything." She knew she was lying to herself. It hadn't been long since she disobeyed Doflamingo. Being on the Straw Hats' ship without being restrained was betrayal of itself.

"Pity?" Luffy repeated with disatisfaction. "No, we only helped you because it was the right thing to do."

Monet paused. She really didn't know what to say to that. There was nothing wrong with helping someone in trouble. It was only the natural thing to do. Had Doflamingo's ideology clouded her mind?

"But, aren't I your enemy?" Monet asked, almost desperately.

The Straw Hat captain shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "I don't care about that. Don't live in the past so much!"

The green-haired angel was totally speechless. She still couldn't understand why Luffy was being so nice to her. He must hate Caesar for the crimes he had committed, but Monet was as guilty as the scientist. What does he see in her that she can't find in herself?

 _Maybe, he can see right through me,_ she thought. Maybe the Straw Hat can see that she doesn't know what her loyalty is to Doflamingo. That she had an ulterior motive for serving him. Protecting Sugar.

But now, she wasn't sure if that protection was there anymore.

"Anyway," Luffy continued. "Since you're already in a crew, we'll just help you get back to them." A mischievous grin spread across his face. "But in return, you gotta let me borrow your angel wings!"

Monet tried to respond to him, but Chopper spoke before she could. "Well, would you mind if you took me flying after you heal up? That would be so much fun!"

The newly modified angel was at a loss. She wasn't one who made promises and didn't fulfill them, especially when working for Doflamingo. Chopper's request seemed doable, but she would forget about it. Luffy's was definitely out of the question.

"Well, I—" she began.

The rubber man turned towards the surgeon at the door. "Traffy, cut me some wings!"

"That will have to wait until later, Straw Hat-ya and Tony-ya," Law interjected. He had still been at the door the whole time, only listening to the conversation whenever Doflamingo or his crew were mentioned. "Speaking of Doflamingo, I need to contact that bastard to inform him about returning Caesar."

Monet raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what do you intend to do with Caesar? What have you done to the Young Master?"

Law ignored her questions and instead smirked as he said, "I guess we could return you with Caesar as a bonus...Straw Hat-ya, come with me." He left the sick bay and went down to the main deck lawn.

"Wait a sec, Traffy!" Luffy called out to his ally as he walked out of the door. He stopped outside the entrance of the room and looked back at Monet and Chopper. "You coming, Money?"

Monet found it amusing how Luffy referred to Law as "Traffy," and told herself that she should probably use it against the Warlord for ignoring her. "I thought I was supposed to be confined in this room?"

"It doesn't matter to me," Luffy disregarded. "Nami said that you were our responsibility, so I guess just watching you is fine enough. Come on, guys!" He joined the others outside as he hopped onto the deck.

The green-haired angel looked down at Chopper to confirm with the doctor if she could leave the sick bay.

"It's fine if you want to walk around," Chopper approved. "Your wounds might get worse if you try flying though..."

She nodded in response, and the two of them walked out onto the deck with everyone else, waiting for the call with Doflamingo.

"Luffy," Nami said, stopping herself from punching her captain. "I thought I told you to keep her in that room and watch over her!"

"I am watching her, though! Besides, it's not like she can just fly away!"

Nami looked over to Robin to help her with the Straw Hat captain, but the archaeologist only chuckled in response. The navigator pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself. "What am I going to do with you guys...?"

Usopp stared at Monet fearfully and cautiously. When the snow woman took notice, he raised his arms up in defense and cried, "Nami's right, Luffy! That snow lady could sneak up on us when she's given the chance!" Luffy completely ignored him as the sniper begged, paying more attention to Law.

Monet leered over to Usopp with fierce eyes, scaring him just as she did when they first saw each other. "Then it'd best if you watched your back," she teased.

The sniper screamed like a frightened child and lifted his arms in surrender. "Aaaaagh! Monster!"

"Monster?" Sanji questioned as he twirled his way towards Monet with a plate and cup. "Rather, literally an angel bestowed upon this world from heaven..." He swooned to her as he offered her the cup. "A cup of tea, Madam?"

She nonverbally rejected his offer by shaking her head and turning around, leaving Sanji gloomily shocked. Although, she tried to hide the blush from his compliment behind her wings.

"Dumbass love cook," Zoro said, loud enough for the insulted cook to hear.

Sanji moved away from Monet and bucked heads with the swordsman. "What was that, you shitty lost child bastard?!"

Luffy obnoxiously laughed at Monet. "Hahaha! Monkey's blushing like Chopper!"

"I don't do that!" the reindeer objected. "And her name is _Monet_ , Luffy!" Luffy challenged Chopper's objection by calling him "the best doctor ever," which made the doctor blush and dance with joy.

"Monet-san, you truly are a beautiful young angel," Brook politely complimented, which made her blush again. "Oh, by the way, would you be so kind as to show me your panties?"

The green-haired angel was just about ready to kick the skeleton after asking that, but was beaten to the punch by the orange-haired navigator. However, not only did she knock out Brook, she also bashed Zoro and Sanji's faces together to stop their argument, then slapped Luffy off of the ship for laughing too loud, and forced Zoro to go fish him out, only to smack him again when he returned. Sanji got hit too for laughing at the swordsman's pain.

Monet looked at the four subjugated crew members and smiled, and then at their navigator, surprised about how Nami handled them so easily.

"They surely must be a handful," the angel said in a calming manner. Nami simply sighed and shook her head in a you-have-no-idea kind of way.

Luckily, Monet didn't kick Brook or accept Sanji's cup of tea. She didn't want to grow too attached to the Straw Hats before she left them. She just had to get out of there before Doflamingo learns of it. But to be honest, she was already doing a horrible job at trying to remain as their enemy.

"Alright everyone, I'm about to place the call," Law declared. With that, all of the Straw Hats gathered around him and the Transponder Snail that he prepared for the call. Monet decided to stay outside of their circle, leaving her and Caesar away from everyone else.

"Monet, you bitch!" Caesar cursed and snarled. "You're betraying Joker, aren't you!" She gave an angry glare to the scientist and then turned away, making him riled up. But then Sanji taught him his lesson by kicking him in the face.

"How dare you refer to a lady like that!" the cook scolded. "Remember who is stilled chained up, you bastard!"

Law hawk-eyed the scientist. "I suggest you shut up Caesar, or I'll make you regret it." The gas man promptly shut his mouth.

 _purupurupurupurupuru...purupurupurupurupuru...purupurupurupurupuru...gacha!_

"He picked up!" Franky and Chopper announced.

"Doflamingo?!" Luffy called the instant the Warlord was on the line. The rubber man ignored Usopp's failed attempts at getting him to be quiet, since Doflamingo could possibly hear him. He grabbed Law's arm to speak into the phone, much to Law's annoyance. "Hello? This is Monkey D. Luffy, the man that'll become the King of the Pirates!"

Usopp whacked his captain in the head. "I told you to shut up!"

"Hey Mingo," Luffy continued, giving his new enemy his very own nickname. "Are you the boss of that stupid, old Caesar?! He put Brownbeard and the children through hell! We will give you back Caesar as we promised, but if you do that again, I will beat the hell out of you!"

 _Him? Defeat the Young Master?_ Monet wondered to herself. _That'll be the day._ She was already surprised that the Straw Hat was speaking to Doflamingo in such a way, let alone think that he could beat the Warlord.

But then, she tensed up when she heard him speak.

"Straw Hat Luffy," Doflamingo spoke for the first time. He seemed unfazed by Luffy's threat to beat him up. "You went away for two years after your brother died." Doflamingo smiled mischievously through the Transponder Snail. "Where were you and what were you doing?"

He had touched on a very sensitive subject—Ace's death—and it didn't make Luffy any happier. "I shouldn't have to tell anyone about that!"

The Warlord laughed at his answer before saying, "I wanted to see you."

This caught everyone's attention, especially Luffy's. "What?"

"I have something that you'd want very badly right now."

"Something...that I would want...very badly?"

Doflamingo's smirk grew even wider as everyone pondered on what the Warlord had in store just for Luffy.

Monet could only wonder what the Young Master had that the Straw Hat would want. She knew of no connections between the two men, and therefore couldn't figure out how he could possess something so important. Well, she couldn't care less, anyway. She was just hoping that he didn't have anything in store for her.

But, Luffy being Luffy, could only think of one thing. "Hey, wait a sec..." He broke into a drooling grin. "...how delicious is that meat is you're talking about?!"

"Straw Hat-ya," Law warned in frustration. "Don't get drawn into 'his pace!'"

But Luffy had already been sent to Meat Wonderland, where there was apparently one, to two, to hundreds of chunks of meat. Law left it to Usopp to help bring him back to his senses by slapping him repeatedly.

"Joker, cut the crap," Law demanded. "We'll hand Caesar over to you as we promised."

"Well, that's for your own good," Doflamingo reminded. "If you try to run away with him, you know what will happen to you guys. Fufufufu... Now, can I hear my precious business partner's voice?"

Law reluctantly turned the speaker towards Caesar, who crawled over to speak. "Joker! I'm sorry! You resigned from the Warlords for me!" The scientist tried to grab the speaker to say more, but Law pulled it away.

"Did you hear him?" Law asked.

"Yeah, he sounded fine."

Monet was shocked by the news, and barely managed to not make an outburst. _Since when did the Young Master resign?! Was this Law's doing?! Is this why he captured Caesar and is now bartering with him?!_

 _Well if that's the case, then what does Law plan to do with me?_

"Alright Joker," Law continued. "Eight hours from now, at the beach on the southeast side of Green Bit, the solitary island north of Dressrosa. We will leave Caesar there at three in the afternoon. Go ahead and pick him up, and this will all be finished."

"That's too bad," Doflamingo replied sarcastically. "I sure wish I could have a drink with you..."

Monet was glad. The Young Master had come to believe that she died along with Vergo back at Punk Hazard, and has already moved on to other things, and she won't have to face any punishment. Now, if she could just use the Straw Hats to get to Dressrosa, she could find Sugar and—

"One more thing, though. So, why are you on that ship...Monet?"

Even though it hadn't been given back to her yet, her heart skipped a beat.

Everyone looked at her as Doflamingo kept speaking.

"You weren't on Punk Hazard when I went there. If you'd been beaten, there would be no way for you to fly out of there, since you told me you'd gotten wings now. At first, I thought you were dead. But then, see, there were these two little birdies that told me they saw you being carried onto the Straw Hats ship."

Monet tried not to say anything. She was hoping that if she kept quiet, he would deduce that she really wasn't with them and that Baby 5 and Buffalo had given him misunderstood information. But it was just too obvious, and his voice demanded for her to answer him.

"Come here, Monet, and say 'hi.'"

She slowly, but surely did as she was told. There was no way out of this. Doflamingo would undoubtedly remain quiet and would not disconnect his Transponder Snail until he was sure that she was or was not on the ship.

She picked up the speaker and stuttered, "I-I am here, Young Master..."

"So, is it safe to assume that you're unchained, Monet? You did just walk over to the phone from a good enough distance." His smile returned.

"Aye sir..." She was panting as heavily as she did when she first spoke to him back in the laboratory.

"So that should mean that you must be on good terms with the Straw Hats. Meaning that...you've betrayed the Donquixote Family, didn't you, Monet?" She didn't answer, and he kept talking. "I won't let you off so easily by kicking you out of the crew, but what do you think your punishment should be?"

The snow angel couldn't think of an answer, and probably wouldn't have said it even if she did. She already knew that Doflamingo would not consider killing her—he was far more creative than that. But what he decided on truly horrified her.

"Maybe she might be my ace-in-the-hole for my plans, but what if Sugar were to participate in our little game? Wouldn't that be something?" He began to laugh villainously.

Monet could not take it. "Wait, Young Master! If you could just reconsider—"

But Doflamingo did not consider, as he cut her off by saying, "Hey Law, if you're still there, make sure you bring Monet along with Caesar. We've got some serious work to do!"

"Please," the snow woman begged and shouted into the speaker. "Don't do anything to Sugar!"

The Warlord paid her no heed, and drowned out her plea with his maniacal laughter. She dropped the speaker and held her head in her hands, not believing what was happening.

"No...Sugar..."

Luffy had been staring angrily at the Transponder Snail the entire time, and his rage had just hit its peak when he noticed that Monet was visibly shaken by Doflamingo's threats.

"Traffy," Luffy abruptly yelled. "Hang that damn thing up already!"

Law sweat dropped at the rubber man's sudden outburst, but complied with his ally, as he was astonished to see Monet so shaken, who usually was one who always remained composed.

But she was most certainly not composed.

Everyone gathered around her, where some were surprised, felt neutral, or were genuinely worried about her well-being.

"Monet, are you alright?" Chopper asked, his fear of her seemingly had disappeared after what he just witnessed.

No answer.

"Hey Money," Luffy tried to help. "Are you okay?"

She just kept mouthing Sugar's name.

Everything was crumbling down. The man who had saved her from hell, whom she swore her loyalty to, had just denounced her loyalty. What was she to do now? Without the Young Master, the only person she could return to would be Sugar, but she was already in his grasp. _What am I supposed to do now? Await for our eventual meeting?_

"Sugar..."

At this point, for once, she had no idea where to go.

* * *

 **And there we have it. This is sure did take a while. Soon enough, I'll finish up Chapter 3 and get it out. Thanks for reading, guys.**


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